Somali cat: the mog in Mogadishu

A mog, or moggy, is a British term for a cat, sometimes all cats in general and sometimes cats that are not pedigree. It is also the name of the cat in Judith Kerr’s series of children’s books from 1970 to 2002. The origin of the term, mog, is not quite clear. But for me, the term mog is derived from the letters that graphically depict a cat – the M is the ears, the O is the head, and the G is the abdomen and cat’s tail.

Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia in the Horn of Africa. There is also a cat breed known as the Somali cat. The cat photographed is a Somali cat, or Abyssinian, and is golden brown with streaks of black.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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